


For Galaxies To Come

by Chika_Lohaine



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergent, Chimera Theo, F/M, Fixing Spaceships like a mechanic, Flirt Theo, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Ghost Riders’ ships are called Horses, Heart Break, History Liam, Human Liam, Human everybody else unless I say, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jealous Liam, Lydia is psychic, M/M, Mason is a Good Friend, One scene inspired by Guardians of the Galaxy, Science Theo, Scott is a Good Friend, Serenity References, Space AU, Stiles is a good friend, Theo is an ass, Thiam BigBang2020, True Alpha is the name of the pack, liam is in love, theo is an idiot, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:46:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27524830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chika_Lohaine/pseuds/Chika_Lohaine
Summary: Liam and Theo escape prison together by accident and are now forced to navigate around their differences and pasts while running away from bounty hunters and prison guards. All while in space.
Relationships: Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Lydia Martin/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 13
Kudos: 35
Collections: Thiam Big Bang 2020 Collection





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Artwork done by [@imjustafangirl-nobodylovesme](https://imjustafangirl-nobodylovesme.tumblr.com/). Check out the artwork [here](https://imjustafangirl-nobodylovesme.tumblr.com/post/634585361344020480) on tumblr! Beta reading done by dangitJJ! Thank you guys for putting up with me...

Being in prison always presented new challenges each day. Some days it was fights between prisoners and on other days it was badly timed prison escapes. And that was what Theo found himself busy with on a beautiful Tuesday morning. It wasn’t even his idea to break out of prison, as he would later swear on his parents’ grave when asked about it.

It all started when he was trying to con a man out of his breakfast pudding before there was an explosion. Then everything was in chaos. Theo ran for the nearest place of cover and found himself in the corridor that would lead him out of the prison.

This knowledge was enough for Theo to make up his mind about leaving the prison. It didn’t even matter if he was caught by the Ghost Riders, who were the prison guards. He had been sentenced to life in prison. The worst they could do was kill him.

It wasn’t long before a few Ghost Riders caught up with him. He just barely managed to duck and roll before their lethal weapon – a whip out of all things – came into contact with his skull. He’d seen what they could do, and he didn’t want to experience it himself.

He turned down the nearest path to escape the cowboy looking creatures. Theo would normally joke about the way that they dressed but he’d seen them brutally kill prisoners without hesitation. Theo decided that he preferred to die with his body still intact.

Theo had realized belatedly that the corridor he had chosen presented him with a dead end. So much for making his escape. He kept running with the hopes of finding a hidden exit or something similar. Before he could get far into the corridor, he was roughly pulled to the side, through another corridor.

“Run.” His savior said before he took off down the new corridor.

*

“Please tell me you know how to hotwire one of these things.” Liam said as they ran towards the Ghost Rider ‘horses’. They were old and sleek dark brown spaceships. Because of their use in the capturing and hunting of criminals, they were heavy-duty, known to be able to ‘take a licking and keep on ticking’. Anybody who saw the monster of a ship would know what it was. They weren’t big by any means, they were just known for the things that they could do.

“Of course, I do.” Theo smirked. They climbed into the furthest ship and Theo got to work hot wiring it. “Why don’t you do something useful and disable a few ships while I work?”

“Then you leave me behind? Dream on.” Liam snarked. He instead looked through the weapons vault and found a grenade launcher that would work for what he was planning. “Are you done yet?”

“How quickly do you think someone can hot-wire a horse? This isn’t a car.” Theo rolled his eyes.

“Well, we have company.” Liam told him. “If you take this long to hot-wire a ship, then no wonder you were caught.”

“What did you say?”

“We have company, and I think the riders want their horse back.” Liam said. He laid down on the ramp of the ship and aimed the rocket launcher in the direction of their incoming opponents.

“Why haven’t you taken the shot yet?”

“I don’t want to kill anybody.”

“They aren’t human if that’s what you are wondering. They are called Ghost Riders because their actual race is called Ghost Riders.” Theo said before the ship’s engine started up. “Yes! Now take the fucking shot so we can get out of here.”

“Fine!” Liam aimed the massive weapon at them and pressed the trigger. The reaction was instantaneous. A slim canister shot out of the opening of the launcher and collided with a Ghost Rider, blowing him and the surrounding riders to bits. “Oh god, I killed them.”

“That was the plan.” Theo muttered. He flipped the switch to close the ramp, Liam still on it.

“What the hell are you doing?” Liam shouted as the ramp jerked.

“Just take another shot before it fully closes.”

“A shot at who?”

“The remaining ships. I know that I always wanted to see a battle with the horses against each other, but I’d rather not be in one of them when the battle takes place.” Theo said as he flipped on the necessary switches.

Liam quickly aimed his weapon at another ship and fired, the canister barely missing the edge of the rising ramp. He was spared the blast impact due to the ramp closing in time but still felt the heat rising from its destruction.

“Looks like you can do something right after all.”

“Should have left you to die.”

“Then who would have hot-wired the ship? We both know you can’t.” Theo smirked. Liam was tempted to punch him but refrained, simply choosing to buckle his seat belt as Theo maneuvered them out of the ship hangar.

Since they were in a horse, the hangar doors opened automatically to let them through. Within minutes, the two of them were leaving the atmosphere of Forgotten, on their way to god knows where.

*

“I’m going to check if they have food or space suits or something.” Liam said after sitting in silence with Theo for thirty minutes. He was surprised that Theo didn’t bother talking to him, more focused on piloting the spaceship.

“We’re going to have to land somewhere and get a new ship. This one’s most likely being tracked.” Theo said to Liam’s retreating figure.

“Do you have anywhere in mind?” Liam asked as he rummaged through all the compartments of the ship. It wasn’t big, more of an oblong shape with big wings attached to it. The outer design helped it fly faster, it being shaped like a bullet with bird wings. This meant that the inside was cramped, not allowing for much movement or storage.

“Maybe.”

“Why doesn’t this thing have anything besides weapons?” Liam complained as he opened the last drawer and still didn’t find food. He had missed breakfast because he had gotten into a fight with another prisoner. This resulted in him being forced to go to the infirmary to check if his fingers were broken (they weren’t), and by the time they were done checking, the jailbreak had started.

“Because the Ghost Riders don’t need to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom. I haven’t noticed any mouths on them, have you?”

“No need to be so snarky–” Liam paused. “What’s your name?”

“Theo and that’s all I’m giving you in case you decide to rat me out to any authority while we stop.” Theo said. Liam rolled his eyes.

“I’m not sure if you remember, but we are both fugitives running away in a stolen horse after killing a few Ghost Riders and breaking out of jail. I’m not sure if I am in the position to be turning anyone in.” Liam shrugged.

“You killed those Ghost Riders.” Theo corrected. “And I’m leaving you behind the minute we get into danger. I don’t need you to drag me down.”

“Thanks for reminding me, Theo.” Liam rolled his eyes. “And trust me, I’ll use you as bait before you get the chance to leave me behind.”

“It’s a pleasure…” Theo trailed off, realizing that the boy hadn’t given his name yet.

“Liam.”

“Liam Dunbar?” Theo said, shock evident in his voice.

“Yeah, what’s wrong? How do you know my full name?”

“You are the one in for beating up half the police force on Leana?” Theo said as he laughed. “I was expecting someone with more…”

“More what?” Liam asked as he gritted his teeth and balled his fists.

“I don’t know. I guess, just more. Damn, you look like a kid.” Theo laughed. “What are you? 15? 16?”

“20.” Liam gritted, lying. He was really 18 (turning 19), but Theo didn’t need to know that.

“That makes it even worse. At least I didn’t say twelve.” Theo laughed. Liam leaned forward and his fist made contact with Theo’s nose. “Fuck! What the hell, Liam?”

“You deserved that.” Liam said as he crossed his arms over his chest and sat properly in his seat. Theo simply huffed but didn’t say anything more to the younger boy.

Liam ended up falling asleep on the three hour – depending on how you looked at the light-year jumping that the ship was capable of – journey to the destination Theo had in mind. 

When they arrived, Theo had half the mind to leave Liam on the ship, but he didn’t want to risk another punch to the nose if the younger boy ran into him again. So, he kindly kicked Liam off the passenger seat.

“Wha– what’s happening?” Liam said, clearly disorientated. “Are we under attack?”

“No. We’ve arrived. You do your own thing, I’ll do mine.” Theo said as he walked off the ship.

“Wait, where are you going? Where are we?”

“Miranda.” Theo waved and walked away. Liam threw off his prison jacket and ran off the ship, intending on catching up with Theo.

“What are we doing here? I thought that we were going to get a new ship then fly to wherever.” Liam said when he finally caught up to the older and noticeably taller male.

“I never said that I was going to be doing all of that with you.”

“I saved your life. It should count for something.” 

“I didn’t leave you behind.” Theo stopped and looked at Liam. “There we are even.”

“Bullshit. Is your life worth that little?” Liam crossed his arms in an attempt to hold off from punching Theo. He figured that Theo would be less inclined to take him with if he punched the older male again.

“I’m a criminal. My life doesn’t cost that much.”

“Apparently it costs 4 million Crohns.” A voice said from behind them. Theo turned around and Liam looked towards the direction the voice came from. “Theo Raeken. Fancy seeing you here again.”

“Tracy, what a surprise.” Theo smiled uncomfortably. “You don’t happen to still be holding a grudge, do you?”

“Not really. In a weird way, I’m grateful that you saved my life, even after you tried to take it.” The woman, Tracy, shrugged.

“You’re Theo Raeken? Damn, Stiles would have a heart attack if he saw you now.” Liam said, attention going from the lady that could possibly turn them in, to the male he escaped prison with.

“You know Stiles? Why do you know Stiles?” Theo asked, his expression guarded.

“I’m Scott’s second in command for True Alpha.” Liam shrugged. True Alpha was a group of people who went around solving the crimes that the galaxy police couldn’t – or wouldn’t – solve. They had a reputation of being the good guys and never did anything that could be considered wrong or bad. The reason that the galaxy police couldn’t touch them was that they were well-loved by everyone in and around the many galaxies.

“The universe is way too small.” Theo laughed bitterly. He turned back to Tracy. “Do you perhaps have a place we can sleep?”

“For a price. I don’t want my name tied to you boys. You know how the Ghost Riders work.” Tracy smiled and waved for them to follow her. They weaved through alleyways until they reached a building that looked like it used to be a hotel more than a hundred years ago. Liam silently followed not knowing if his input was needed – or even wanted.

“Are you sure you want to invite me into your home? Especially after everything?” Theo smirked as they stepped into the building.

“I have people that live here who would be more than willing to kill you, should I want you dead.” She shrugged. “Welcome to Eichen House, where we offer asylum for the lost.”


	2. Chapter 2

To say Liam was shocked was an understatement. In front of him stood someone he wasn’t sure he was ever going to see again. Or even wanted to see again. The last time he had seen her was back on planet Leana when they went on a date.

“Hayden.”

“Liam.” Hayden’s eyes widened in surprise. Liam didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He figured that bringing up the past wasn’t the best idea, especially since she had decided to run away.

“How have you been?” Liam asked awkwardly. Theo groaned and asked Tracy to show him to where they would be sleeping.

“I’ve been good.” Hayden nodded as Theo and Tracy left. “Well, I was on my way out, so…”

“Yeah, yeah. Continue what you were doing.” Liam stepped aside to let Hayden walk past him.

“It was nice seeing you.” Hayden smiled as she left the building.

“Can’t say the same.” Liam sighed when she was gone. Suddenly, Liam wanted nothing more than to still be in prison.

*

“So, you were kept on Forgotten.” Tracy said as the three of them sat down for dinner in Tracy’s superintendent apartment.

“Yep, did you know that the entire planet is actually used as a prison?” Theo said, a scowl on his face. “I’ll never get over them making us clean the place.”

“Forgotten isn’t even a big planet, why are you complaining?” Tracy laughed.

“It’s not a big planet until you have to rake the sand in groups of ten to twenty.” The older male responded. Tracy looked in Liam’s direction and found the boy staring off into the distance.

“Are you okay, Liam?” She asked softly. Liam was still startled and nearly spilled his coffee onto Theo, but the older boy’s reflexes were quite fast. He righted the cup before it spilled on him. Tracy stood up and fetched a tea towel to wipe what little coffee had spilled.

“I’m guessing she was your ex or something like that.” Theo said, a smirk surprisingly absent from his face.

“It doesn’t matter.” Liam said, taking a bite out of his toast. Tracy and Theo simply nodded and left him to his brooding, continuing a quiet conversation between themselves. After a while, Liam excused himself from the table and went to the room that Tracy had offered them. The room that was given had two beds on either side of the old dresser that had been placed against the far side of the wall. Liam took the bed furthest from the window, not wanting to accidentally catch Hayden coming back.

He stared up at the ceiling, thinking back to the events that led him to that point.

_*Flashback*_

_Liam read the letter again. Then reread it to make sure that he was reading the right thing. No matter how many times he read it over, the contents never changed._

_“What does it say?” Mason asked his best friend, sensing the boy’s distress._

_“She broke up with me.” Liam said, letting the letter drop out of his hand. Mason picked it up from the floor and read it out loud._

_“Hey Liam, I'm sorry that I left, I didn’t know how to tell you in person. I’m sorry that we can’t be together anymore. Know that I still love you. Hayden.” Mason put his arms around his best friend and hugged him tightly. “I’m so sorry, Li.”_

_“It’s okay. It isn’t your fault.” Liam sighed. He let his best friend try and comfort him. After about an hour Liam decided that he needed to go and clear his head. He thought better when he was out in the open and was surrounded by nature._

_Unfortunately, surrounded by nature was not where Liam ended up. He ended up taking a train spaceship to the neighboring planet, Leana, and went to a bar to drown out his sorrows. Liam was on his fourth beer when an old friend decided to cause trouble._

_“Liam, what brings you here? Where’s Hayden?” Brett said as he pulled up the seat next to Liam, who was sitting at the far end of the bar._

_“Leave me alone, Brett.” Liam told him, hoping the man would hear the warning in his tone. Brett, who never heeded any warning (especially Liam’s), continued talking._

_“Oh yeah. I heard she left you.”_

_“Who told you that?” Liam asked, surprise clear in his voice. Hayden had left him the note two hours ago._

_“Leana is the only planet that offers inter galaxy travels around these parts. I saw her take a shuttle out a couple of hours ago.” Brett said before smirking. “You weren’t even there to see her off, so I put two and two together. And now here you are wallowing in your sorrows. Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure she found someone better.”_

_Liam didn’t think before he smashed his beer bottle against the side of Brett’s face. Then the fight started._

_Brett hadn’t come alone. His friends lunged after Liam but were too slow. Liam was angry and hurt, so he took it out on anyone who came his way. He knocked his fists against so many faces that he couldn’t feel his hands anymore. There was so much blood on his hands – literally, except for the fact that nobody died – and he didn’t care. He just kept punching and kicking._

_It didn’t help that Liam was quite versed in various forms of martial arts. He knew how to throw someone much heavier than him over the bar counter and backflip someone into a table._

_His rampage didn’t stop there._

_When the Leana police force had arrived and tried to take Liam down without using weapons, Liam fought them too. He smashed their helmets together, knocked them out with their own rifles that he stole during the fight, and kept punching and kicking until they were forced to tranquilize him._

_By then it was too late. Liam's breakdown had injured many people._

_*_

_“Liam, this is bad.” Scott said as he paced the interrogation room that Liam was in. He and Stiles were only allowed in because the Leana Police Captain, Jordan Parrish, was a friend of theirs._

_“I know.” Liam said, his head hanging._

_“You don’t. Twelve police officers are in the hospital with concussions, six more have broken bones, some with both, and let’s not even get into the bruises and sprains.” Scott told him._

_“And that’s only looking at the police force. The injuries in the bar are more interesting. Brett had to get stitches.” Stiles said. He was surprisingly calmer than Liam had expected him to. Liam had a feeling that Stiles was still shocked by the amount of damage Liam managed to cause all by himself. “And then we can move on to damage to property.”_

_“I’m sorry. I- I just got so angry at Brett then next thing I knew I was shot with a tranq dart.” Liam said, finally looking up. Stiles and Scott were shocked by the minimal bruising that littered the young man’s face. For someone who was in a fight against nearly fifty people, he came out quite unscathed._

_“This is why we worked on techniques to calm your IED. What happened Liam? You were doing so well.” Scott said, sitting back down at the table. He went from stressing to worried in a few seconds flat._

_“Hayden left. Then Brett was taunting me about that.” Liam told them._

_“Hayden left?” Stiles and Scott repeated, confused._

_“She broke up with me via a piece of paper. It wasn’t even a properly written note.” Liam said. “It was written at the back of an old receipt.”_

_“Oh.” Was the only thing his older friends could say._

_*_

_“They are sentencing you to six years on Forgotten.” Scott said softly. No matter how hard they fought, they couldn’t get the judge to reduce the sentence. Especially since his son was one of the people Liam put in the hospital._

_“It’s okay. At least I’ll get the time to either practice my fighting skills or work on controlling my anger.” Liam tried to joke._

_“Liam…”_

_“I’m scared, Scott.” He said after a pause. Scott pulled him into a hug before the prison car came to pick him up._

_“I know, me too.”_

_“They are here.” Stiles came up behind them._

_“We’ll find a way to get you out. Even if I have to use True Alpha’s name.” Scott said, giving Liam a small smile._

_“Don’t bother if you are going to try and ruin our team name for a criminal.” Liam smiled back. Stiles gave the younger boy a hug when he stood up._

_“Take care of yourself, Liam.”_

_“I will. Help Scott take care of the pack.”_

_“You got it, kid.” Stiles said, momentarily reminding Liam of Stiles’ dad._

_“I’ll see you guys when I get out then.” Liam said as he walked over to where the guards were waiting for him. He didn’t turn around in fear of seeing his friends cry. Mason had already cried when the judge gave him his sentence._

_Six years in a high max prison was a long time after all._

_*End of Flashback*_

Liam wiped away the stray tears that had somehow found their way out of his eyes. He wasn’t even sure why he was crying. The whole incident had taken place two and a half years ago. Liam turned over to his side and closed his eyes, willing sleep to take him in its embrace.

He had only gotten about an hour of sleep before Theo was shaking him awake.

“We have to go.” Theo pulled him out of bed and kept dragging Liam until they left the room.

“Where are we going? What’s wrong?” Liam said trying to wake himself up but still letting Theo pull him.

“Bounty Hunters.”


	3. Chapter 3

“How did they find us?” Liam asked as Theo led him out the back door.

“Someone probably told them where we were. We weren’t exactly hiding.” Theo said. He stopped when they were in the alleyway. Theo pulled an old and dirty cloth off a hidden hyper-speed motorcycle.

“Is that safe to ride?” Liam asked.

“Choose. Get on the bike or get caught by bounty hunters.” Theo threw his leg over the bike and got on, not giving Liam a lot of time to decide what he wanted to do.

Not that he had time.

A gunshot ran out and Theo and Liam turned to find the bounty hunters at one opening of the alleyway. Liam knew the lead bounty hunters.

Tamora Monroe and Gerard Argent. They were famous for being the most brutal and cruel hunters across the galaxies. Whenever they caught their prey, they always took a souvenir, and it wasn’t like the government could complain. Unless the government asked for the fugitives to be brought back whole, Monroe and Gerard would bring them back alive, albeit missing a few pieces – but nothing too important.

Liam quickly climbed onto the bike and they sped off, not giving any time for conversation should the hunters feel in the mood to play with their food.

Riding a hyper-speed motorcycle without any protective gear was quite dangerous. The wind painfully lapped at their skin and eyes, as if threatening to rip their skin off their bones. Liam held on tightly to Theo’s waist, unsure of how the older boy was able to drive with his eyes open. He was already tearing up at the little wind that was hitting him, though he was mostly protected by Theo’s body.

It didn’t take them long to arrive at their destination, which looked to be a junkyard. Theo quickly jumped off the bike, not waiting for Liam to catch up.

“Wait for me.” Liam said as he ran after Theo. It was a little hard because he wasn’t wearing any shoes, having had no time to put them back on. Theo ran straight for a ship that was disguised among the rubble and scrap metal. It looked like a refurbished Ghost Rider horse, but bigger. The ship was already running as if waiting for them. Theo climbed in and started closing the ramp. “Fuck, Theo!”

Liam barely managed to get on the ship before the ramp closed and the ship took off.

“Were you trying to leave me behind?” Liam asked as he dragged his body against the floor to get to the copilot seat. The speed at which the spaceship was flying was making it difficult, but he managed to do it anyway.

“If I was going to leave you behind, you’d still be in bed right now.” Theo said, flipping controls and preparing the ship for light jumping. Liam was speechless. Although Theo never came across as the kind of guy who would think about others, he was right. He didn’t have to wake Liam up or take him along on the motorcycle. 

Hell, it would have gone faster if there had been one person less on it. Theo didn’t need to bring Liam along, but he had anyway. Liam wanted to say thank you, but he wasn’t sure how to do it.

It wasn’t every day that your fellow prison escapee saved your life. Forgotten was the prison that only the worst of the worst went to. The only reason Liam was sent there was because he hurt police officers and going to Forgotten was the easiest way to shorten his sentence – and his life, but Liam didn’t think about that too much.

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Now we are even.” Theo said instead. Liam frowned but didn’t say anything. Theo light jumped them a few times before they switched to cruise mode, the light jumping taking a toll on more than the ship.

“What kind of spaceship is this?” Liam asked as he looked around. While the outside looked like a Ghost Rider horse, the inside was quite spacious. Off to the sides, Liam spotted sleeping quarters and what looked like a bathroom.

“It’s a decommission horse. One of the first-ever made.” Theo said.

“Oh, the ones made in 3043? They were meant to carry more than one Ghost Rider at a time, but the government had discovered that it was better to give them their own ships. It was more efficient that way.” Liam said, rattling off the knowledge he had in his head.

“History buff much?”

“I like history. It’s interesting.” Liam shrugged. He seated himself more comfortably in the modified ship. “Who modified it? The owner?”

“I modified it. It’s mine.” Theo said, he put the ship on autopilot and stood up from his chair.

“Where are you going?”

“To the bathroom. Do you want to come with me?” Theo smirked. Liam turned away and didn’t say anything more. He simply sat there, staring out at the stars. Looking at the stars while in a spaceship was quite different from when on a planet.

It took a second for Liam to notice that the blinking spots in front of him weren’t stars. They were light jumping ships. Closer inspection revealed them to be Ghost Rider ships. Liam moved to the pilot seat and took it off autopilot. The ship needed time before it could light jump again so Liam had to do with what he could.

“Theo, we have company.” Liam shouted before he abruptly turned the ship around. He wasn’t sure where Theo was taking them, but they would worry about that when there weren’t any Ghost Riders on their tail.

“Fucking hell, Liam. Are you trying to kill me?” Theo shouted as he barely managed to get out of the bathroom safely. Liam didn’t answer as he sent the ship spinning, barely managing to dodge a projectile – which turned out to be a whip – from the pursuing horses.

“I’m trying to save our lives.” Liam said through gritted teeth. He hadn’t driven a spaceship in a long time and never in such conditions.

“Let’s swap. You take up weapons. Before you kill us.” Theo said, still struggling to get to the open cockpit.

“Fine, hold on to something. I’m switching off the gravity.” Liam gave the warning as he flipped the anti-gravity switch and dodge another whip. “How are they using whips while in a spaceship!”

“I’m sure they practice often.” Theo said sarcastically. He hovered above Liam while the younger boy tried to dodge more attacks. Liam did a mini light jump, giving them enough time to swap seats. “Looks like you aren’t a complete idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot.” Liam said as he looked at the weapons he had on hand. “Could you fly backwards?”

“It would take too much time for us to turn the thrusters around. Use the rear camera and the mounted plasma cannons to shoot them.” Theo said he maneuvered them around a mini asteroid field.

“Here goes nothing then.” Liam muttered as he followed Theo directions. It felt like playing a video game, except the stakes were his life and his freedom. The Ghost Rider Horses were surprisingly resilient, needing six blasts from their strongest weapon to stop working.

Liam only managed to take down three of the eleven and their time was running out. The Ghost Rider horses were catching up to them.

“Fuck.” Theo said as a whip smacked the ship’s left-wing. It momentarily sent them spinning before Theo managed to correct them.

“Where are we?” Liam asked suddenly.

“What? We are in galaxy seven. One of the Uncharted.” Theo answered even though he was confused. The Uncharted were 20 galaxy ‘pockets’ that were too dangerous for exploration. This meant that potentially dangerous species or other things lurked around every bend. They had been designated by numbers to signify their level of danger. One being mild – considering – to twenty being completely untraversable.

“Galaxy seven was first discovered in 2045. It has an asteroid belt located near its outer area. We can go there.” Liam said, recounting history knowledge that he had read from a space history book that Mason had bought for him. “3043 horses were made to take incredible amounts of strain and damage.”

“You better be right.” Theo said, changing course for the galaxy barrier. He kept the ship’s course steady only moving to dodge the unending attacks.

“Apparently they want us dead.” Liam muttered.

“Liam…” Theo’s slightly shaky voice caught Liam’s attention and he looked away from where he was trying to shoot down their enemies.

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure about your history?” Theo asked as he pointed towards the vast expanse of space in front of them. Instead of there being a simple asteroid field, there was an entire wall of asteroids.

“This isn’t galaxy seven then. It’s galaxy twelve. It has a spherical asteroid field covering the planet at the center.”

“Someone must have messed with my GPS then. We can’t jump without knowing where we are going. We could end up in Galaxy Twenty.” Theo said.

“We’ll have to risk it.”

“Risk what? Going through the asteroid field that looks like a loosely built wall or light jump to an unknown location?” Theo asked.

“Light jump. Turn around and go back to the center, where the planet is.” Liam told him.

“Do you want us to land on it? If this planet has its own asteroid belt this wide, then we won’t last two minutes near its orbit. Or on its surface. The gravitational pull would be too strong.”

“But if we light jump at the right time then we can trap the Ghost Riders while getting away. I’m pretty sure I have good enough luck to help us.” Liam smiled sheepishly.

“If we die, I’m going to kill you.” Theo muttered but followed Liam’s plan.

“Do you want me to direct you on when to jump?” Liam asked, ignoring the stupidity of that statement.

“I probably know more about gravity and science than you.” Theo muttered. He flew the ship slow enough to let the riders get close but fast enough to keep out of their grasp. As they approached the small green planet at the center, Theo could feel the spaceship speeding up gradually.

“Why are we going faster? Aren’t we going to lose them?” Liam asked, also noticing the increase in speed.

“It’s not me. It’s the planet.”

“I’m surprised it didn’t pull us into its orbit before.” Liam commented.

“We probably didn’t even notice it.” Theo shrugged. He prepared the ship for light jumping. “When we jump from near the planet, the pull from both ways is probably going to hurt. So be prepared.”

“Hopefully, this goes well.” Liam muttered as he reached for his seatbelt. His hand never made it as the ship took a hit from the enemies behind them. “Fuck, I forgot that they were still following us.”

“Is that why you stopped shooting?” Theo sped the ship up, not caring about whether or not the riders were close enough to be affected by the ship’s gravity enough for them to be hindered.

“We should probably turn off the antigravity.” Liam said as he reached over for said button.

“Don’t!” Theo shouted too late. Liam had pressed the button just as he pressed the light jump button. Due to the planet’s gravitational pull and the light jumping, the ship was spat out in an unknown location with such force that it was spinning. The occupants of the ship were sent in various directions, Theo hitting the windshield while Liam was flung out of the cockpit and into the corridor.

“Fuck!” Liam said as his back hit the wall.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Theo said as he rolled off of the dashboard and on to the floor. The ship was still spinning but at a slower rate and Theo managed to correct it while still off his chair. “Are you still alive?”

“I think I might have broken something.”


	4. Chapter 4

“It’s a sprain and your back is bruised.” Theo said when he was done checking Liam’s wounds.

“Great, just what I needed.” Liam muttered as he pulled back on his t-shirt. Theo threw a bag and some clothes at him.

“Go shower, then we can wrap your wrist.” He said before leaving the sleeping quarters. He went to the cockpit and started checking up on the damage that the ship might have taken. Thirty minutes into his check, Liam had come out with the medkit and Theo helped him set his wrist. Then Theo had sent Liam to bed, stating that they should take shifts in sleeping and keeping watch.

Liam had relented with a yawn and a soft goodnight – that Theo was sure he didn’t know he had said – and had retreated to the sleep quarters. 

Theo made sure that the most vital parts of the ship were still working before he pulled his feet up onto the chair and placed his chin on his knees, his arms already wrapped around his legs. It had been a while since he let himself be that vulnerable and wasn’t about to have anyone see him like that. Not even his old friend’s second in command.

He didn’t even know the boy well. For all Theo knew, Liam could just be pretending to be defenseless before he killed Theo and dumped his body off the ship out into space. After all, that was the same boy who took down thirty plus people on his own and barely got hurt in the process.

Theo sighed and looked out at the stars that were in front of him. He had a habit of talking to the stars and telling them all his problems, knowing that they wouldn’t spill his secrets.

“Theo?” Liam’s voice startled the older boy that he almost fell out of his chair.

“Fucking hell, Liam. What are you doing awake?” Theo asked, embarrassment evident by the way his cheeks were heating up.

“Sorry. I was wondering if you had food. The last time I ate was a few slices of toast at Tracy’s place and before that, it was some of my breakfast at the prison.” Liam said sheepishly. Theo was sure that the boy had tried to forget his hunger before it became too much. He sighed again and stood up, before heading to one wall of the corridor and opening the hidden fridge.

Theo pulled out a few things and started making something that looked like sandwiches.

“Where did you get the fresh ingredients?” Liam asked as they sat down to eat in the cockpit.

“Tracy put them in for me. While you were asleep.” Theo answered.

“Were you guys friends? She made it sound as if you had known her for a long time.” 

“What’s up with the twenty questions?” Theo asked. He had already known that Liam would get curious, but it didn’t mean that he wanted to answer any questions the younger boy had.

“I- Sorry.” Liam looked shocked for a second before he looked back down at his food.

“Tracy and I knew each other back when I was still working at ValCorp.” Theo started on his story. If he was going to share it with someone, he might as well share it with a fugitive who was in a similar situation. That and Liam didn’t seem like a bad person. Anybody who was friends with Scott wasn’t a bad person.

“You worked at ValCorp?” Liam asked, clearly shocked. Valack Corporation, affectionately known as ValCorp, was a multimillion Crohn company that specialized in scientific research with its main focus being genetic research.

“Yes, I was part of a team that focused on creating a mixed hybrid child who had the DNA of every species in the universe.” Theo shifted until he was comfortable. “The government wanted someone who could delegate through any situation because of its mixed species. Of course, for this to work we needed to experiment first.

“In the beginning me and my team, which consisted of myself and three scientists who called themselves the "Dread Doctors", thought that the best way to do this was to birth a child that had all the DNA we required. There were so many species that we needed to mix in that we ended up creating abominations.” Theo took a breath and looked at Liam. The boy seemed to be a little uneasy, but Theo brushed it off and continued his story. “They came out with extra arms or legs and even heads. The ones that couldn’t be passed off to other species that had extra heads or limbs were killed.”

“You killed them?” Liam repeated, his voice no higher than a whisper.

“Well, not me directly, but yes. Some of them died on their own. Lungs were too small or fragile. Organs were missing or they had too many of one. It was a mess. It took me three years and an accident to realize what would have worked better. And that was when the second round of experiments started.” Theo leaned back in the chair and turned his face to look out at the stars. “I thought that if we couldn’t create a new species through artificial means then why didn’t we expand on the species we already had.”

“I don’t understand.” Liam told him.

“We took mixed-species children and injected them with the DNA of other species.” Theo said bluntly. He knew there was no use hiding it now. He had already started with the story so the least he could do was finish it. “We expanded on what the subjects already had. Simply adding on to what nature had already provided for us. It wasn’t even hard. No, it was too easy. The fact that they already had mixed DNA meant that we weren’t disrupting much. But obviously, things weren’t perfect.

“We couldn’t get the right test subjects, some of them were too young to work with. Others too old. So, we came up with a criterion. They had to be mixed species, between the ages of 14 to 18, healthy and with no connections to the government or people with power.” Theo sighed and rubbed his hands across his face. “The Dread Doctors, they were ruthless. If the subjects showed any sign of not being good enough or rejecting the treatments that we were doing, then they would be terminated. No questions asked.”

“How old were you?”

“When I started working with them or when we started experimenting on people old enough to tell us that we were hurting them and that they wanted to go home?” Theo asked, a self-deprecating tone in his voice.

“Both.” Liam shrugged. Theo was surprised that the younger boy was so calm about everything that he was hearing. He figured that the gravity of the situation hadn’t sunk in yet.

“I met the Dread Doctors when I was eight or so. They worked in the same company as my parents and I had always been interested in science. So, I was introduced to them and made their apprentice. At first, everything was okay. They were quite mean, but they didn’t smack me into a wall like my father did, so I couldn’t really complain. Then the experiments that they did started to look odd to me. They operated with no boundaries. If they wanted to make something this way then they would make it that way, not caring about how they got to that result.

“I guess after a while I thought that that was how science worked. I never went to school, so I never learned about those fancy science rules that were created to keep scientists well within moral and ethical bounds.” Theo shook his head. “Anyway, I became an active participant in their experiments when I turned 12 – mainly because I was tall enough to see over the table – then when I was fourteen turning fifteen, we started on the human trials. Perfecting it by the time I was sixteen going on seventeen.”

“And it still didn’t bother you?”

“Oh, it did.” Theo smiled sadly. “That was actually when I met Tracy. She was one of the subjects I was in charge of. She didn’t really do much except sing songs that her mother had sung to her – to comfort herself. Then I met Corey Bryant. And he was always so nice to me, even while I plunged thick needles into his spine.”

“Corey Bryant?” Liam repeated, the anger slowly seeping into his words. “You were the asshole that tortured Corey?”

“Hold your horses, Liam. I’m not yet done with the story. You can beat me up for everything once you know how it ends.” Theo said. He wasn’t even surprised that Liam knew Corey. His luck had a way of fucking things up for him. “Where was I? Oh, I met Corey and he was nice to me. Honestly, it was a change of pace and was almost enough for me to give in and just set him free. The final straw was when I received a folder that had the next candidate. Cute kid, barely fourteen – which was the same age as Corey – and he had the brightest eyes I had ever seen. The eyes that Tara would say were curious and wanted to see more of the universe. They belonged to someone named Mason Hewitt.”

Theo could see Liam stiffen, but he continued with his story.

“Tara said I had eyes like those once. Before she died. So, I made up my mind, I wasn’t going to have anything to do with the experiments anymore. But I knew I just couldn’t leave. They would find more Coreys and Tracys and even more Masons. So, I did the only thing I knew how to do.” Theo looked Liam in the eye. “I killed the Dread Doctors. And wow it wasn’t easy. They put up a fight every step of the way, making sure that I knew that they wouldn’t be stopped so easily, but they forgot one thing.

“I had been their apprentice for nearly a decade. I had set everything up in such a way that if I didn’t kill them before I died, they would die anyway. Explosives made from chemicals were set up all over the lab, with the trigger being my heartbeat stopping. Took me forever to set it up.” Theo laughed without humor. “When I had dealt with the doctors, I went to free the people we had experimented on. Each of them was told where they should go to get proper help and that they should never turn to the government. Then I burned everything to the ground before destroying any notes that were made outside the labs. That’s the one thing I like about the Dread Doctors, they never really left the labs. They even had their own rooms on the same floor of ValCorp. It was easy to get rid of everything.

“Once I was done with that, I just sat and waited for the police to come and get me. I knew I was going to prison. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. The case was hush-hush, and they made sure that nobody knew what had happened and I was sentenced to life in prison on the Forgotten because that’s what the government wanted me to be. Forgotten.”


	5. Chapter 5

Liam was torn. As much as he wanted to hate Theo, he couldn’t – for reasons that he didn’t know about yet. After his story, Theo had turned away and refused to say anything else, which was a silent cue for Liam to fuck off. So, Liam had left and that was how he ended up on the top bunk in the small bedroom.

Three hours after the conversation and Liam still couldn’t sleep. Yes, Theo had done bad things to so many people, but he had also saved people’s lives. Hell, he had saved Liam’s best friend’s life. Not to mention Corey and Tracy. Liam had known about the torture that Corey had faced. The boy didn’t mind sharing it with the rest of his friends, but he never went into depth about what he had experienced or how he had escaped.

Mason had hinted that somebody had helped Corey, but his best friend’s boyfriend never gave anything away. And here Liam was with information that he had previously been curious about but wished that he never found out.

Liam sighed and got out of bed. He found Theo still sitting in the cockpit just like he had found him before the older male had spilled his guts. Sitting with his feet on the chair and his knees pulled up to his chest. He didn’t notice that Liam had entered the cockpit until the latter sat down in the co-pilot seat.

“Hey.” Liam greeted. Theo schooled his surprised expression.

“I’m guessing you aren’t trying to lull me into a false sense of security before you kill me.” Theo said after a while.

“No, Scott raised me better than that.” Liam smirked.

“So, what brings you back?”

“What was the accident?” Liam asked.

“What accident?” Theo tilted his head in confusion.

“The one you had before you realized that conducting experiments on already living people was better.” Liam elaborated. 

“Oh.” Theo tightened his arms around himself. It was a side of Theo that Liam had never seen before. The older male was always so cocky and confident and now he looked as if he wasn’t sure about anything at all.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Liam said gently.

“It’s quite different having you speak to me without all that anger in your tone.” Theo said instead.

“I’m not Bruce Banner. What? Do you think that I’m always angry?” Liam rolled his eyes, a smile threatening to break out on his face.

“I experimented on myself with the help of the Dread Doctors.” Theo said after a while.

“Why?”

“I wanted to test things out. I created an experiment that could be reversed then tested it on myself. Then it got out of hand, the doctors became involved and I barely made it out alive.”

“So, what was the experiment?”

“Lend me your wrist, the sprained one.” Theo said instead as he held out his hand. Liam hesitatingly put his injured wrist into Theo’s outstretched hand. The older boy roughly twisted Liam’s wrist, causing extreme pain to shoot up his arm.

“What the hell, Theo!” Liam shouted as he tried to pull his arm back. Theo simply gripped tighter. Liam stopped struggling when he saw black lines moving up Theo’s hand and arm and disappearing underneath his rolled-up, long-sleeved sweatshirt. “What…”

“Do you still feel pain?”

“Uh…No…” Liam said as he focused on his wrist. It was as if there was never any pain to begin with. “What did you do?”

“It’s something I discovered when I was experimenting on Corey and Tracey. The ability to take someone’s pain away.” Theo let go of Liam’s wrist and turned to look out into space again. “I’ll show you what else I can do at a later date.”

“Why do you always look out into space?” Liam blurted out. He had been curious about that ever since they started flying together. Theo always got a look of sadness mixed with tranquility on his face.

“Tara used to say that the stars would listen to your secrets if you spoke to them and give you comfort if you needed it.” Theo explained. “I was always comforted by the fact that there was something I could tell all my secrets to, something that would judge me or curse me out.”

“I won’t judge you or curse you out.” Liam told him, surprising both of them by his words.

“Why aren’t you angry at me?”

“Because you saved Mason’s life. And you saved Corey and Tracey’s lives too.” Liam shrugged. “If they don’t hate you then why should I?”

“Corey doesn’t hate me?”

“He has never been angry about what happened to him. He always seemed as if it never bothered him as much as it bothered the people around him. Mason once said that he was going to find the people who hurt Corey and he just smiled and said it was already taken care of.”

“You must be really close with Mason.”

“He _is_ my best friend. We even went to a witch to do those forever bonds.” Liam smiled at the memory. Forever Bonds were bonds that could be created between any amount of people as long as it was out of their own free will. It allowed the bonded people to feel each other’s strongest emotions and sometimes physical pain. The downside was that sometimes a person would not know if they were feeling their own emotions or the emotions of their bonded friend.

Mason and Liam had been drunk when they got the bond but agreed to terminate it only when one of them was ready to get married. It didn’t matter now that they were eighteen.

“Forever bonds are a lot.” Theo mused.

“I guess they are.” Liam shrugged. “But I still mean it.”

“Mean what?”

“That I won’t curse you out or judge you.”

“I think you’ve already cursed me out.” Theo laughed and Liam joined in as he reached over to hit Theo’s shoulder. He lost balance and Theo barely managed to catch him and steady him. “Be careful.”

“Oh… Sorry.” Liam’s face was too close to Theo’s. He could feel the older boy’s breath on his skin, making it tingle as if it had been touched. Liam knew that he could simply lean forward and place his lips against Theo but stopped himself. “Thanks.”

Liam pulled away and sat properly on his chair, not missing the look that flashed across Theo’s face.

 _Maybe next time,_ he thought to himself. He sat comfortably and looked out at the stars.

“Not going to sleep?” Theo asked as he watched Liam.

“No, I have a few things I want to get off my chest so I thought I might as well talk to the stars about it.” Liam shrugged. Theo sat back the way he was sitting before but with one foot on the floor.

“What do you want to tell the stars?”

“About Hayden, my ex-girlfriend.” Liam said before he launched into the story of how he ended up in prison. Theo sat quietly and listened to Liam’s story, not once interrupting Liam. Liam decided that he liked Theo’s company. He didn’t feel as if he were being pressured into talking or as if he were being judged for his actions. Liam felt comfortable enough just by being around Theo. He felt content.

It was different from when he was with Mason though. Liam didn’t know how to explain why he felt it was different, he just knew that it was.

When Liam was finished with his story, Theo made an odd huffing sound.

“What?”

“Hayden’s not very nice.” Theo said after filtering through his thoughts. Liam could see that the older wanted to say more but didn’t know how to say it.

“I know, but at the same time, I kind of understand her. I wasn’t where she wanted to be. I wasn’t home for her.” Liam smiled a bittersweet smile and shrugged. “What happened after was all my fault not hers, even if she was one of the catalysts.”

“You are…nice?” Theo said, tilting his head. Liam thought it was adorable but squashed the thought down with a laugh.

“Why did you say it like it’s a question?”

“I don’t know what to say. It’s as if you are thoughtful and stuff but I don’t know how to describe it.” Theo said, half frustrated, half amused.

“It’s okay. I get what you are trying to say.” Liam laughed. Theo was about to say something before he let out a big yawn. “Go to sleep Theo, before you swallow us both.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.” Theo said as he stood up and stretched. His t-shirt rode up and Liam could see his happy trail above the black pants he was wearing. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

“Hey, Theo.” Liam said as he grabbed the older boy’s wrist.

“Yeah?” Theo turned around and looked down at Liam. The latter stood up as he pulled Theo down and placed their lips together. He placed his other hand behind Theo’s head. Or well, tried to. Liam had been so intent on kissing Theo had he had forgotten about his sprained wrist.

“Fuck.” Liam said as he pulled away. He hissed and clutched his wrist.

“Here, let me help.” Theo said, a smirk on his face. He held Liam’s wrist and took his pain.

“Doesn’t it hurt you?” Liam asked as he watched the black lines appear on Theo’s forearm.

“That’s a question for another day.” Theo smiled, placed a kiss on Liam’s lips, and left the cockpit. “Goodnight, Liam.”

“Goodnight, Theo.”


	6. Chapter 6

Liam had actually fallen asleep less than an hour after Theo had left. He woke up when Theo placed a hot cup of coffee in front of him. The older male said nothing to him as he sat down in the pilot’s seat.

“Thanks.” Liam said, taking the coffee into his hands. It tasted amazing as if it were the best coffee he had had in years. “Where did you get this? It tastes good.”

“I made it.” Theo said making Liam roll his eyes.

“I was talking about the brand.”

“It’s nothing special. While in prison you learn how to spice up your bland tasting food.” Theo explained.

“Oh, so you literally made it.” Liam realized as he took another sip. He decided on a change of topic. “Where are we going now?”

“Bazaar. We could use some new things.” Theo answered as he started up the ship. He paused to take a sip of his coffee. Somewhere at the back of Liam’s mind, he noticed that they were using matching cups.

“I’ve never been to Bazaar. Heard a lot about it but never had the chance to travel this far.” Liam said. Bazaar was an entire planet dedicated to its namesake. Different regions of the planet specialized in different things, from foods to clothes to appliances.

“We should probably get you back home then. Wouldn’t want your family to miss you.” Theo snarked. Liam was glad that he wasn’t being awkward about the night before.

“They’ll be fine. They survived without me for two years, I think another month or two will be fine.” Liam waved his hand dismissively.

“A month or two? Are you planning on spending that entire time with me?” Theo nearly choked on his coffee.

“Who else am I going to go on the run with?” Liam acted innocent. “And you get my situation.”

“You have to be kidding me.” Theo muttered. Liam tried keeping a straight face but the utter disbelief on Theo’s face made him crack a smile before he started laughing. “You’re an ass, Liam.”

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.” Liam said in between his laughter. He noted the small smile that grace Theo’s lips. Lips that he had kissed.

That thought, as fleeting as it was, left Liam choking on his spit. He stopped laughing as he coughed violently.

“Why does it seem like you are trying to cough out your lung onto my dashboard?” Theo asked as he offered Liam water. The younger boy took the bottle and drank a bit from it.

“Thanks.” Liam breathed out. “And no thanks. I don’t think my lungs would make a great addition to your dashboard.”

Theo snorted and continued steering the spaceship towards the shopping planet.

*

Liam looked around at the many stalls that were on either side of the long stretch of road. He knew that behind the stalls were even more stalls and that continued until the entire planet was covered. It wasn’t a big planet, maybe around half the size of Old Earth’s moon but was still big enough for there to be trillions of stalls and buildings.

“Welcome to Planet Bazaar. My name is Theo and I will be your tour guide for the duration of your stay.” Theo spoke formally, placing one hand behind his back and another across his front as if he were a butler. Liam laughed and assumed his own role.

“I heard that there were many marvelous food places, please take me to your best one.” Liam said in his most posh voice.

“How about a change of clothes first, Sir. There are sadly dress requirements for these restaurants.” Theo smothered his laugh at Liam’s poor acting.

“I guess I am dressed too formally.” Liam looked down at his clothes and heaved an exaggerated sigh. This made Theo burst out laughing and Liam joined him.

“Come, they have rentable carts that we can use.” Theo said smiling. Liam followed him and soon they were on their way to a clothing shop. “What type of clothes did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know. A sweatshirt and jeans?” Liam shrugged. “Where are we even getting the money?”

“Called in a few favors.” Theo shrugged but didn’t give Liam any more information. Liam could wait, they had an indefinite amount of time together. “Is that all you want?”

“Just decide for me, but don’t make me look like a fool or a kid.” Liam shrugged again.

“You want _me_ to pick out clothes for _you_?” Theo asked, clearly shocked.

“I trust your sense of style?” Liam offered weakly. In reality, he had never been a fan of shopping. Mason had gotten so annoyed with Liam once because of his level of reluctance to buy new clothes that he did it for him.

“Let’s stop here for a bit.” Theo said suddenly. He parked the cart and got out. “Come on, we have a lot to do.”

“I’m coming.” Liam said as he also got out. He followed Liam into what turned out to be a costume shop. “You want to play dress-up?”

“We are fugitives, a disguise is a must.” Theo smiled. He looked so happy to Liam that the younger boy had no choice but to agree. They separated and went to choose their outfits. Halfway between choosing between two jackets, a cowboy suit caught Liam’s eye. He placed the jackets back on the rack and picked up the chosen outfit and went to get changed. When he was done, he went to go and find Theo.

“How does this look?” Theo turned around when he heard Liam’s voice only to be met with a cowboy hat in his face.

“What the … hell?” Theo removed the hat and got a look at what Liam was wearing. It was a cowboy outfit straight from those old western movies Tara liked to watch. Liam gave him a little twirl, flexing the boots on his feet.

“You look like Woody from Toy Story.” Theo said smiling.

“There’s another costume. Put it on then you can be Jessie.” Liam smirked. Theo threw the hat back at Liam. “Grab a costume. We need disguises remember.”

“Pick one for me. Then I’ll pick one for you.” Theo suggested. The look that Liam got on his face was enough to scare him. “Don’t go overboard.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.” Liam said before he ran away. He knew exactly what he wanted Theo to wear. Theo sighed and went to find something for Liam to wear.

They met ten minutes later and silently switched costumes. Theo was shocked at what Liam had picked out for him. If Theo was correct, it was a medieval outfit that looked very similar to the one that Jon Snow had worn in Game of Thrones. There was even a wig – even though Theo thought that Liam’s long hair would match the character better. Liam had even included a sword.

Theo got dressed and headed out of the dressing room. He was too busy fixing his sword to notice Liam who had also come out of the dressing room. The two collided with each other and Theo barely managed to steady them both before he got a look at Liam.

“Wow.” Was all Theo could say as he took in Liam’s outfit. Theo had given him a Clark Kent costume with the glasses and a light brown trench coat. He could see the superman shirt peeking out from where Liam had left his shirt open.

“Wow yourself. I’m not surprised that you didn’t add the wig, but it doesn’t matter. You look great anyway.” Liam rambled. For some reason, he pictured Theo in a medieval getup and was quite surprised when it worked out so well.

“Whatever you say, superboy.” Theo rolled his eyes but blushed.

“I’m a younger Clark Kent, thank you very much, Jon.” Liam smirked. Theo gently shoved him and Liam laughed, unnecessarily using one of the racks as support. His hand landed on a bright green costume and he looked up at Theo, a glint in his eye.

“Round two?” Theo suggested, smiling. Liam nodded and they grabbed their outfits and disappeared into the change rooms. When they came out, they gave each other an appreciative once over.

“Well Mario, aren’t you looking good.” Liam smiled.

“Could say the same about yourself, Luigi.” Theo replied, a similar smile on his face. They burst out laughing and scrambled for the next outfit.

They both happened to choose the _Men in Black_ outfits and walked around the store with fake importance, sunglasses on their faces. They decided it was time to change when a customer didn’t appreciate it when they tried to wipe her memory.

The last character they chose was James Bond. Theo grabbed a black suit while Liam went for white. Liam had finished first and was rebuttoning his jacket after he put his gun away when someone came and stood in front of him. Liam looked up and came face to face with a _very_ beautiful girl

“Hey.” She smiled and tilted her head, letting her hair fall to the side a bit.

“Uh… hi.” Liam greeted her back, albeit awkwardly.

“Have a date for that fancy party you are going to?”

“There’s no fancy party. I’m just dressing up as James Bond.” Liam answered. He had never felt so awkward in his life.

“Well, James Bond always has a girl by his side.” She pointed out, leaning into his space a little too much for his liking. “I’m sure there’s a dress that would match your suit somewhere around here.”

“Uh…” Liam flirted with people before, yes, but that had always been when he was interested in them or interested in fooling around a bit.

“As much as he would like for you to leave him alone while you looked for that dress, I don’t think you need to.” Theo said from behind the girl. Liam looked up at him while the girl turned around.

“That’s not very wingman-like of you.” She said to Theo and Liam could hear the annoyance in her voice.

“Well, I don’t think I would be a great boyfriend if I was his wingman.” Theo said, matter-of-factly. Liam was 300% sure that his face was burning red.

“Boyfriend?” The girl looked between Theo and Liam and took in their expressions and matching clothes. “Oh… Well, this is awkward.”

“Just walk away and save yourself any more embarrassment.” Theo suggested, keeping his tone light as if he didn’t want to embarrass her any further. Liam found that strange as his words would make her more embarrassed. She nodded and walked away, not sparing Liam another glance.

“Thanks.” Liam said to Theo after he was sure she was gone.

“Let’s go and change, we still need to buy clothes and food.” Theo said instead. He walked back into the dressing room, leaving Liam alone once again.

*

Shopping for clothes with Theo wasn’t as bad as Liam had been expecting. The older boy already knew what he wanted to buy so he simply dumped the correct sizes into their shopping trolley. Liam also noticed that he added clothes for him too. When they were done and had finished paying, Theo led Liam to a collection of stalls that had trinkets and charms.

They were merely browsing but something caught Liam’s eye. It was a little handcuff charm and it reminded him of how he and Theo had still been in prison a few days earlier. Time was different on different planets – and in different galaxies – but according to Old Earth, they had been on the run for four days.

“What? Do you want it?” Theo asked Liam when he saw that the younger hadn’t moved on from the stall.

“Not really, but it would be cool to have. Remind me of our time together.” Liam shrugged and put the charm down.

“Don’t get all sentimental on me.” Theo rolled his eyes.

“That’s no way to talk to your boyfriend.” The stall owner, an old lady, scolded Theo. It made Liam want to laugh but he stuck to silently blushing. “You should be spoiling him.”

“I am spoiling him. We just come back from a shopping trip where I paid for all his clothes, and now we are going to head to a restaurant so I can buy him a late breakfast. We have the whole day to spend on Bazaar and there might be other things that he would want.” Theo argued. Liam looked at Theo with shock. He didn’t know that Theo had all those things planned for him.

“Make sure that he does all those things that he said he would do.” The lady said to Liam. Liam blushed some more and nodded.

“Don’t worry, I will.” Theo rolled his eyes and took Liam’s hand in his before pulling him away. Liam turned to the old lady and waved. “Bye!”

“Goodbye and good luck.” The lady smiled.

“So, about that breakfast…” Liam smiled at their joined hands.

“I should have just taken the scolding.”

*

Theo took him to a fancy-looking restaurant that was not too far from where they had left the cart. Liam felt a little under-dressed in the jeans and sweatshirt that Theo had bought him and raised his concern with the latter.

“Don’t worry about, people from different parts of the galaxies come here, all dressed very differently.” Theo assured him. He took Liam’s hand again and that made the younger boy’s heart skip a beat.

“Table for two?” The waiter asked them when they entered. 

“Yes, can it also be somewhere quiet, please?” Theo spoke up. Liam tried to ignore the way the waiter checked Theo out as if he were about to swallow him whole.

“Right this way.” Theo and Liam followed him to a spot at the back of the restaurant, far enough from other patrons that it was quiet but close enough that they didn’t stand out too much. “I will be back to take your order shortly.”

“Thank you.” Liam said in a clipped tone. The waiter didn’t seem to realize as he continued making eyes at Theo.

“What’s gotten you all wound up?” Theo asked as the waiter walked away.

“Just hungry.” Liam lied, opening his menu with more force than was necessary. Theo looked at him for a bit before he let it slide.

The waiter came back and took their order, tried to flirt with Theo – which the other was oblivious to – before leaving. Their food came in record time, faster than any service Liam ever had. It was as if the food was just waiting for them to arrive.

Sadly, for Liam, with their food, came the waiter.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” He asked Theo in a voice that was sickening to Liam. He wanted nothing more than to punch the man in the throat.

“No, we are fine.” Liam told him. He ignored Liam and continued looking at Theo. Liam figured that he was done with the waiter. He stood up, leaned over the table, and kissed Theo on the lips. He ignored the pain in his wrist as he used it to support himself. He was going through with the kiss whether it hurt him or not.

When Liam pulled away, he could see the disorientated look on Theo’s face, and it made him smile. Then he turned to their waiter who was shocked at what just happened. Liam took a bite out of his food then shoved the fork against the waiter’s chest. The man’s hands fumbled to grip it.

“Your food is raw.” Liam said before he grabbed Theo and dragged him out of the restaurant. When he was finally free of the restaurant’s suffocating air, he let go of Theo and walked towards the cart on his own, not caring if the boy followed or not.

Liam was tired, his emotions were torn between anger, jealously, and embarrassment. He couldn’t believe that he had done that just because someone had been flirting with Theo. He just acted like the jealous, overprotective boyfriend type.

Liam had never felt so mortified in his life. He was ready to just get arrested and go back to prison, just so that he could forget what he had just done.

Theo arrived ten minutes later, carrying two takeaway containers.

“Please don’t tell me you went back to the restaurant.” Liam said as he eyed the containers.

“No, I didn’t, but I figured you’d be hungry.” Liam only noticed his hunger when Theo pointed it out. He took the containers as Theo climbed into the cart and started it.

Inside, was a burger and fries. Theo also pulled out some soda cans from his pockets.

“Thanks.” Liam said as he bit into the burger. “Where are we going now?”

“There is a lake where we can sit and eat.” Theo said. Liam simply nodded, he didn’t mind just sitting and staring at water while Theo ate. Mainly because he was hungry now.

When they reached the lake, Liam still had his fries and drink left. The meal was quite filling so he knew that he wouldn’t be hungry for a while. The two of them found a quiet spot and ate in silence, merely enjoying each other’s company and the taste of good food. They had been in prison for a few years, four years in Theo’s case.

When they were both finished, they took off their shoes and went to stand in the water. Liam enjoyed feeling the cold water lap at his ankles while he played with the wet sand with his toes.

“Were you jealous?” Theo asked as he gently kicked at some water. He looked so beautiful in the light of the setting sun.

“Why would I have been jealous?” Liam huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. He saw Theo smile.

“You seemed like you were jealous. Or was that you being overprotective over your boyfriend?” Theo’s smile turned into a smirk and Liam went a furious shade of red.

“Shut up, I wasn’t.” Liam said, trying to cover up his embarrassment with anger. The look on Theo’s face said that he didn’t believe Liam one bit. Liam bent down and splashed water in Theo’s direction. The look of shock on the older boy’s face was worth his humiliation over lunch.

“Oh, it’s on, Liam.” Theo said when he recovered. He also bent down and splashed a laughing Liam with the cold water. Liam retaliated before running away, but Theo was on his tail.

“Wait, Theo! I’m sorry!” Liam cried through his laughter as Theo chased him around the beach.

“Nope. Apology not accepted.” Theo said, an evil smile on his face. He caught up to Liam, who had been struggling to get away on the sand. Liam felt arms wrapped around his waist before he was lifted and carried back in the direction of the water.

“Wait, Theo. Theo!” Liam didn’t get the chance to say anything more before he was dumped in the water. In his panic, he grabbed onto Theo and also dragged him into the water, effectively making them both soaking wet.

“Looks like we are even.” Theo laughed looking down at his wet clothes.

“Yep.” Liam laughed. He turned his head towards Theo and found the older boy looking at him. It made Liam very self-conscious as he blushed. “What?”

“Nothing, you just looked so mesmerizing.” Theo smiled. If Liam wasn’t blushing hard enough before, he was now.

“Let’s– let’s go back to the ship.” Liam said as he stood up. He looked down at where Theo was sitting, still looking up and smiling at him.

_Fuck it._

Liam went over to Theo and straddled his lap before passionately kissing him. He could feel Theo’s hands rest on his ass as his own hands were around the older boy’s neck. Liam didn’t know how long they kissed for, but he didn’t care. At that moment, nothing was more perfect as he kissed Theo with the setting sun, the rising moon, and blinking stars witnessing it all.


	7. Chapter 7

“Liam!” Mason shouted as the virtual call connected. Liam could see Mason, Stiles, Scott, Isaac, and Lydia in the frame. He vaguely wondered where everyone else was. Especially Corey.

“Hey Mason, it’s been a while.” Liam laughed at how excited his friend was. He was still in a good mood from the day with Theo and had thought it would be good for him to talk to Scott, Mason, and the rest of True Alpha. He didn’t know how much he had missed them until he heard their voices.

“How have you been man? I heard you escaped from prison.” Mason said.

“ _Why_ did you escape from prison again?” Stiles asked.

“It was a chance happening, then the next thing we knew, we were running for our lives.” Liam shrugged.

“I heard you are with Theo. Is he there?” Scott asked.

“He’s right here.” Liam said as he looked in the direction of said male. Theo was trying hard to ignore the conversation and pretend that Liam wasn’t there. Liam found it cute. He turned the camera in Theo’s direction. “Say hi, Theo.”

“Hey.” Theo awkwardly waved a hand. Stiles laughed while Scott smiled softly.

“Haven’t heard from you since we were kids.” Scott said. Liam had found out (from Theo) that he, Stiles, and Scott had been friends before Theo had gotten too involved with the Dread Doctors. He had always wondered about the Theo Raeken that Stiles and Scott had once mentioned knowing.

“How did you end up in prison?” Stiles asked bluntly. Lydia hit his shoulder and he shrugged. “What, we are all wondering.”

“I killed someone.” Theo said. Liam hit on the back of his head and shot him a glare. “I got involved with the wrong people. There, is that better Liam?”

“Much.” Liam rolled his eyes. He was about to say something else, but Corey came into the frame.

“Theo?” Corey seemed to be in shock as he looked at Theo.

“Corey.” Theo breathed out the name as if it took him an effort to say it. The two of them stared at each other while the rest of the pack sat there awkwardly trying to piece things together. Liam already knew the full story, so he was simply curious to see how things played out. Mason was the only person who knew some of the story and was the only person to piece it together.

“Oh my god, you’re the person who helped Corey back then.” Mason said, a mixture of shock and awe on his face.

“Well, I wouldn’t really call it helping.” Theo said slowly, and Liam hit him again.

“We were thinking of stopping by, just to say hello, maybe catch up a bit before we hit the road again.” Liam changed the subject.

“Why are you still on the run? Beacon Hills has always been a sanctuary for those who need it.” Isaac pointed out.

“Yes, but…” Liam looked at Theo. He was about to say more before their ship was hit with something.

“Looks like we have company.” Theo muttered as he switched on the outer cameras. “Hunters.”

“Okay, that’s the end of this call. We’ll see you guys in a few days maybe, depending, but we’ll visit soon.” Liam said as he sat properly and strapped himself in.

“Stay safe, Liam.” Lydia said before the call cut. Her words made him feel scared. Everyone who knew them, knew that Lydia had come from a race of psychics. If she told him to be careful that meant that something bad was going to happen.

“They have perfect timing.” Liam muttered as he switched to the weapons at the back. “Do you think that they tracked us using the call’s signal?”

“No, they probably caught a scent from when we were on Bazaar. We weren’t careful at all.” Theo said as he maneuvered the ship around blasts that were being fired.

“Apparently we can’t breathe without someone trying to kill us.” Liam fired at a ship that was following them. Their spaceship was rattled with another hit from above. “I think they sent out the kill order.”

“That, or they expect us to survive this.” Theo agreed. The ship was under heavy fire, seemingly coming from all sides.

“We got company.” Liam said as another blast hit the ship.

“Really? I didn’t notice.” Theo snarked.

“I mean more company.” Liam slid one of the holographic screens towards Theo.

“Ghost Riders.” Theo said when he saw the telltale bullets with wings. “I’m going to try and light jump. We can’t take damage from these many enemies.” 

“Can we handle a jump? I thought we still had to get the GPS fixed.” Liam said.

“Do you know how to fix it?” Theo gritted out as a narrow dodge nearly sent them spinning.

“I know you know a little bit of something and so do I. Stiles has this old ship that belonged to his mother and I would sometimes help him fix it.” Liam fired more shots at their enemy. They blew up a ship but he didn’t have time to celebrate as another took its place. “These things are like cockroaches, they just keep coming.”

“I have half the mind to just transport us back to The Forgotten and crawl back into my cell.” Theo muttered as the cabin lights started flashing red.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asked, the flashing lights distracting from his shooting.

“We are switching to automatic firing mode.” Theo told him as he pushed a few buttons. “Get that GPS fixed.”

“On it.” Liam unbuckled his seat belt and ran to the side panel behind their chairs. He pulled out the panel piece and looked for the GPS connection points. “I think the problem is with the main controls. I’m going to have to go down to see what I can do.”

“Hurry.” Was all Theo said as Liam left. He grabbed a portable toolbox and went to a hidden panel in the middle of the corridor floor. He pressed the special pressure points and opened it up, revealing a small room. Liam knew it would be a tight fit, but he went down anyway. He had to crawl around the tight space, but it was less of a squeeze than it would have been for Theo.

It didn’t take long before he found the GPS panel on the main control panel and immediately saw the problem. There was an external GPS, working to constantly scramble their coordinates whenever they punched in a destination or tried to check their location, attached to their GPS.

Liam opened the toolbox and pulled out pliers and tape. He started removing the device before a blast hit the ship, sending the scissor across the board and into another wire and the tools from the toolbox flying everywhere.

“Liam, what the fuck are you doing?! We lost visuals.” Theo shouted.

“Give me a second.” Liam shouted back. He ignored the screwdriver that had plunged itself into his side as he crawled closer to the newly cut wire. It took him a few seconds to strip the wire and rejoin them. Then he turned back to the device.

Liam simply gripped it and tore it out before he got to fixing the now loose wires. When everything was connected, he checked for any other signs of sabotage. Liam found none and deemed it okay to go back up to the main deck. He left the toolbox and spilled tools behind, only taking the GPS.

“I found the problem. Can we make two jumps?” Liam asked as he carefully maneuvered himself out from under the ship.

“I think we can, why?”

“We were bugged with a tracker and GPS scrambler.” Liam told him. He walked himself to the airlock hatch.

“Deucalion, that asshole.” Theo cursed. “The first destination is Galaxy Nineteen, then One.”

“Okay, tell me when I should be ready.” Liam said, struggling to keep himself standing.

“Hang on.” Theo said as he pressed a few buttons. He pressed the button for light jumping and Liam as nearly thrown off balance. The ship didn’t stop shaking even after it reached its destination. Galaxy Nineteen was known for its asteroid whirlpool and they had landed right on the edge of it.

Even if they were in one of the most durable ships ever built, they wouldn’t survive long. Liam placed the scrambler into the hatch and sealed it. He barely managed to eject it before they were hit with another blast from the hunter team. They seemed hellbent on seeing Theo and Liam to their grave.

The blast knocked them closer to the whirlpool and the ship was hit by a stray asteroid, sending it spinning. Liam was knocked off his feet and hit the ceiling before he landed on the floor. The floor collided with the screwdriver still in his side, sending it deeper into his abdomen.

Liam screamed out in pain.

“Liam!” Theo shouted and Liam could make out the older boy’s scramble to unbuckle his seatbelt.

“Jump again!” Liam shouted at him. “Get us out of here.”

Theo hesitated for a split second before he punched in a new set of coordinates. He was just about to press the last few buttons before they felt something hit their ship, throwing Theo across the controls.

The ship light jumped to the mistakenly entered coordinates. When they were spat out on the other side, Liam realized that the ship was heating up. He saw Theo reach for the controls and force another light jump, against the groaning ship’s capabilities. It light jumped them but also had every system on the ship failing.

Theo threw himself out of his seat and ran to Liam’s side. Liam already knew that his wound wasn’t looking good, but the expression on Theo’s face cemented the fact.

“Shouldn’t you be piloting the ship?” Liam asked weakly.

“You’re bleeding all over my floor and that's what you are worried about.” Theo shook his head. He stood up and grabbed tools from the main toolbox before getting the medical add kit and kneeling back beside Liam. “This will hurt.”

“I can handle a little pain.” Liam tried to shrug but it sent a new wave of pain through his body. Theo gently took his hand and took away some of the pain making Liam feel a hundred times better. Then he got to work on Liam’s wound. He first cut away Liam’s shirt and the younger boy kept talking to fill the silence. “You still never answered me when I asked about whether or not it hurts you.”

“It does hurt me, Liam. I feel it the same way you feel it.” Theo said as he lined up a pair of bolt cutters with the screwdrivers handle. He cut away most of the handle before turning to the medical aid kit. He pulled out a syringe and filled it with what Liam guessed was an anesthetic of some sort. Theo wasted no time in injecting Liam with it before he moved on to the bandages. The bandaging of Liam’s torso was only bad when the older boy made him sit up so that he could wrap Liam better.

When it was all done, Theo went and grabbed two space suits from one of the side panels.

“What are you doing?” Liam asked as Theo got him dressed. Unlike olden day spacesuits, these looked more like the suits a diver would wear, with the exception of the slightly big helmet. Liam now understood why Theo had cut off some of the screwdriver’s handle.

Once they were both dressed, Theo lifted Liam up bridal style and carried him into the cockpit. He placed Liam gently onto the copilot seat and strapped him in, all the while being careful of his wound.

Liam caught a glimpse of the cameras that were still working and saw that there was debris floating around the ship. A large clump of it seemed to be tethered to their ship. It took a while for Liam to realize that it used to be a hunter ship. The impact that had knocked them before the jumped must have been the tether attaching itself to the ship.

“I’m going to land the ship on the nearest planet. We can’t go anywhere in this condition.” Theo said as he came back also dressed in his spacesuit. He placed Liam’s helmet on his head before putting on his own. “I don’t know where we are, but I hope that we can find help.”

“I think all this bad luck is because we had so much fun yesterday.” Liam said.

“Must be.” Theo smiled. He switched the ship back on and the flashing red lights, as well as warning signs, also came on. Theo switched them off and turned on the thrusters. He slowly cruised the ship towards the sandy brown planet in front of them. Liam was pretty sure that they were only going that slow because the ship couldn’t go any faster.

He sat watching the few still working cameras and noticed a few spots blinking into existence towards their right.

“I think they are back.” Liam told Theo, showing him the screen.

“I’m going to try something nobody should ever try.” Theo said as he flipped the switches for light jumping.

“I thought we couldn't light jump?”

“We can’t, but it should give us the little boost so that we are closer to the planet.” Theo told him.

“You want to light jump us into a planet?” Liam asked incredulously. That was the most absurd idea that he had ever heard, and he was pretty much familiar with stupid ideas.

“We don’t have enough juice to go into it, but near it.” Theo shrugged. “I know it’s a suicide mission, but we are already going to die so what’s the harm?”

“Us actually dying!” Liam shouted before he started coughing. When he removed his hand from his mouth he was met with the sight of blood on his black and grey glove. Theo said nothing but pressed the light jump button. Liam thought that he had miscalculated the jump because soon they were falling into the planet’s atmosphere and heading towards its surface. “Great, we are going to die.”

“Shut up, you pessimist.” Theo said as he brought the spaceship out of its dive. The change was minimal and gradual, but it made a difference when they crashed into a rock dune.

The old ship’s passengers were roughly shaken up and disoriented but otherwise okay – relatively in Liam’s case.

Theo got them both out of their seats and out of the totaled ship, grabbing a few weapons on their way out. He looked around the barren wasteland that they landed on and sighed. There was nothing for miles and Theo was pretty sure that Liam wouldn’t last a walk that long anyway. He headed for the nearby cave, dragging Liam along.

“You could as least be gentler.” Liam muttered when he was set down on a rock. Theo checked the planet’s stats and found that it didn’t have breathable air and had four hours of daylight and thirty-six hours of night. Theo vaguely wondered if it was going to be like that one movie he watched when his parents had sent him to bed. Theo thought its name was Pitch Black or something along those lines.

“Stay here while I go and check other the rest of the cave.” Theo told Liam. The younger boy simply nodded and slumped in his seat. Theo left him with hopes that he wouldn’t die or be found.

The cave system was not that complicated for Theo to navigate, especially since he could see in the dark. When he felt that he had explored enough he went back to Liam and found the boy sitting up and tapping a strange rhythm.

“Please tell me that you don’t need the bathroom.” Theo said.

“I used to do this when I was younger to keep myself awake. I’m terrible at keeping a rhythm or beat so this takes all my focus.” Liam explained.

“If it helps, then continue.” Theo waved him off and started checking the weapons that he got. They were heavy-duty but they could crack the glass that the helmets were made out of.

“How did scouting go?” Liam asked after a while. Theo figured that he was struggling to stay awake, most likely due to loss of blood.

“Nothing interesting. The entire place all just leads back to one central point.” Theo told him.

“Mykonos.” Liam whispered.

“What?”

“The Greek island. They had a city with interconnecting narrow roads and streets that all meet up with each other. It helped invaders get lost.” Liam explained. When Theo just keep looking at him he sighed. “I did say I like history.”

“Okay, but how do we use this to our advantage?”

“We have to lure them to a place where they think we are before we either kill them or make or escape.” Liam said. “The place is like a maze so it would be easy for them to get lost.”

“I’ll get to leading false trails.” Theo stood up and checked his watch. “It should be sunset right now before its dark for thirty-six hours.”

“I told you I had great luck.” Liam smiled.

“Tell me that when you don’t have internal bleeding while suffering from blood loss.” Theo rolled his eyes but smiled along. He left Liam alone so that he could lay false leads for the incoming guests.

*

Liam’s breathing was shallow but he was wide awake. He was always amazed at what adrenaline could do to the human body. Right now, even though his bodily functions were shutting down, he was able to move around the hunters that walked the cave systems.

Theo had laid perfect false leads that didn’t give away too much. A bloody handprint here and a sand print stumbled over there. It was perfect.

Liam waited for the hunter to walk past his hiding spot before he attacked from behind. A well-timed mallet to the helmet and the hunter was left struggling for air. A few breaths of the planet’s air could kill any and all life forms. Liam suspected that they were on one of the Uncharted. There was no other reason that no other humans were here. Because if there were, they would have known about Theo and Liam’s crash or about the hunters that followed them.

Liam quickly stole the hunters’ gear and moved on to his new hiding spot. The only hunters that he didn’t engage were the Ghost Riders. They didn’t even need helmets to survive on the planet. Liam was sure that they were the furthest thing from living.

Theo came to get Liam thirty minutes after two Ghost Riders had passed.

“Got the keys to a ship.” Theo said as he helped Liam up. “We don’t have much time.”

“Did you set the bomb?” Liam asked as he leaned heavily on Theo. The latter simply supported his weight and carried him out of the caves. “How are you so good at navigating?”

“Sense of sight and smell. The experiment with the Doctors amplified them.” Theo answered. They exited the caves at a random opening that wasn’t too far from where the ships had landed. Liam wondered how Theo knew they would be there. 

“How did you not smell that I had gotten hurt then?”

“I lived in a prison with nearly six hundred other people. I learned how to block out the smell of sweat and fear.” Theo placed Liam behind a rock where he would be hidden. “Wait here while I get us that ship.”

Liam nodded and watched Theo disappear into the night. The thought crossed his mind about Theo leaving him behind, but it was gone as soon as it came. Liam trusted Theo. He knew that the older male wouldn’t leave him behind. Liam wasn’t sure how he knew, but he just knew.

Theo came back for him ten minutes later, covered in blood and breathing heavily but otherwise okay. He roughly picked Liam up and ran towards the location of their newly procured ship. Liam felt Theo lay him in a chair and strap him in before he felt the familiar rumble of a spaceship taking off. He fought to keep his eyes open but was finding it hard, now that the adrenaline had worn off.

*

Theo was not the galaxies’ best pilot, but he had done a lot of flying while he worked with the Dread Doctors. Some of their organs and samples were ‘illegal’ and required someone trustworthy to go and fetch them. That was when Theo stepped in. He had learned how to skillfully outmaneuver himself out of any dangerous situation, solo.

That was why he didn’t have any problems getting away from the hunters. He had a destination in mind and knew that not even the Ghost Riders would cross the borders of Beacon Hills. Theo got off the planet and out of its atmosphere before any of the hunters were even in their ships yet. He had set off the bombs for when most of the hunters were at the entrance of the caves, increasing the likelihood of fatalities.

#

Sometimes Theo thought about how he had let himself become such a monster. Then he looked at the reasons that he had done such monstrous things. At first, he had been misguided into thinking what he was doing was right, then he tried to set things straight but was required to do more harm than good to reach his goal. When Theo looked back on the people he killed to protect others, he didn’t regret doing it.

What he did regret was hurting all those children. Even as he currently stared at Corey, he thought about all the torture that the boy had suffered at his hand. He didn’t understand how Corey could forgive him so easily.

“Want anything else to drink?” Isaac offered Theo. Theo smiled and shook his head. He watched Isaac busy himself with dinner in the group’s kitchen before turning his attention back to Corey. Just like Theo, Corey was also at a loss for words.

Theo had shown up thirty minutes prior carrying a nearly lifeless Liam with hunters and Ghost Riders on his tail. Scott simply had to remind them of the land that they were stepping on and the consequences at would arise should they break the law. The Ghost Riders on the other hand didn’t heed warnings. They were simply hellbent on bringing their chargers back to their homeland. And they would have been able to, had the Beacon Hills land not been protected by ancient spells and techniques. 

While that was going on, Alan Deaton, a doctor for almost all species, was trying to save Liam’s life. Theo had done what he could and that had bought Liam more time than he originally had. The surgery had been a success and Theo could finally relax.

“You look like shit.” Mason spoke up.

“That tends to happen to someone who faces death as often as I have.” Theo shrugged.

“How come only Liam got hurt?”

“He was fixing the controls for the ship when we were hit. Then he fell on top of a screwdriver when the ship got hit.” Theo explained. He was only explaining it because Mason was Liam’s best friend, and they shared a bond. Mason had most likely felt Liam’s pain when he was first stabbed and when he landed on the screwdriver.

“Only he can get stabbed during a space battle.” Mason muttered and Theo smiled.

“I should leave, now that he’s better.” Theo said as he stood up. Even Isaac stopped cooking to look at him in shock.

“You can’t leave with them still on your trail.” Corey spoke up. “What if you get hurt or killed.”

“You know that I can’t stay. The government will find a way to get to me, especially now that they can see I’m resisting arrest.” Theo looked Corey in the eyes and the two had a silent conversation. The last time that they had done that was when Corey was leaving ValCorp with the other captives. Corey had wanted Theo to come with but the latter knew that he had to stay.

“Will you come back. For Liam?” Corey asked him, already resigned to having Theo leave.

“Fate will probably bring us back together.” Theo smiled sadly. He then turned and left the house. As he approached the ship he heard someone running behind him. Theo half wished that it was Liam but he knew that that was wishful thinking. He turned around and found Mason standing behind him.

“Can you not stay?” Mason asked, his eyes pleading for Theo to change his mind. Theo sighed and reached into his pocket.

“Give this to him. Tell him it’s for allowing the waiter to flirt with me.” Theo said. Mason looked confused but understood what he was being told.

“Take care then, Theo.”

“You too, Mason.”


	8. Chapter 8

Liam jerked awake, body ready for a fight. When nothing happened, he took a look around the room that he found himself in. It was his bedroom, the one he stayed in whenever he was with the rest of True Alpha. He could see his stack of history books on his messy desk and the band posters he had stuck up on the wall when he first got the room. 

There was light coming in through the blinds that cast lines on his bed. The bedding was the same as he had left it before he went to jail. It was a faded blue from continued use and washes. Liam could barely make out the light blue stripes that had once been on the duvet.

Everything in the room was the same except for the couch that was placed on the other end of the room that has an occupant. The person on the couch shifted and let out a groan.

“Mase?” Liam called out softly.

“Liam? You finally awake.” Mason said as he sat up. He rushed over to his friend and hugged him. “I thought you were going to die.”

“It’s been so long Mase. What happened? Where’s Theo?” Liam asked his best friend. He hugged his best friend a little while longer – they hadn’t seen each other in more than two years (a virtual call didn’t count) – before he pulled away.

“You were stabbed by a screwdriver remember. Scott and Deaton barely managed to save your life.” Mason told him. Even with the little bit of light in the room, Liam could see how bad his near-death affected his friend. Mason looked as if he hadn’t slept or eaten in weeks, the bags under his eyes prominent.

“How long was I out for?” Liam asked, placing his hand on the place where he had gotten shot. He remembered everything up to the point where Theo was dragging him back onto a ship. He didn’t feel much pain when he pressed his side.

“Three weeks. Deaton says that you are quite lucky that Theo got you here on time. And that the Hale vault had the right medicines to help you heal quicker.” Mason smiled. “But you are still on bed rest for a week more.”

“Three weeks is a long time.” Liam said, still trying to wrap his head around being out for that long.

“I missed you.” Mason said into the silence. Liam looked up at his best friend, noticing the tears that have yet to spill.

“I missed you too.” Liam smiled, reaching out to hug Mason. They sat like that for a while before Mason got himself comfortable next to Liam.

“So, tell me how everything went.” Mason said when he was more put together.

“What? Jail?” Liam laughed as Mason nodded. “Interesting to say the least. I was in a fight almost every day.”

Liam recounted his experiences in the Forgotten Prison, how he survived, how scary the Ghost Riders were, and how he met Theo. Liam recounted how everything started off with a fluke meeting then turned into an adventure as he light jumped to different planets with Theo by his side.

“You really like him, don’t you?” Mason asked, a knowing smile on his face.

“Yeah, he was an asshole at first, but after a while, I sort of started to understand him. He made me laugh more than he made me angry.” Liam blushed.

“I’m happy for you.” Mason smiled and Liam noticed the underlying sadness in it.

“Where _is_ Theo?” Liam asked. Before he was even finished with, the sentence, Mason’s smiled dropped. “What happened to Theo?”

“Nothing happened to him, nothing that we know of anyway.” Mason said the last part more to himself than to Liam, but Liam heard it anyway. “We just don’t know where he is.”

“You don’t know where he is?”

“Yeah, Li. He dropped you off. Stuck around to know that you were going to be fine then up and left. We haven’t seen or heard from him since.” Mason told his friend, an apologetic look on his face. Liam could see that Mason felt bad about the whole Theo thing, even when Theo’s leaving wasn’t his fault.

“And he didn’t say anything?” Liam asked after a while.

“He left you something, said that he was sorry for letting the waiter flirt with him.” Mason reached across Liam to get something from the nightstand next to him. When he sat properly again, he took Liam’s hand and placed the item in it.

Liam slowly opened his hand, scared of what he might find. It was better and worse than what he had expected. It was a necklace with the handcuffs charm that Liam had wanted from that lady at the Bazaar stall. Liam felt tears spring to his eyes and Mason’s arms wrap around him.

“That asshole knew that the waiter was hitting on him.” Liam said through his tears, unsure about how to feel. He was happy that Theo had actually got it for him, and he was sad – and a little angry – that Theo had given it to him as a parting gift. Liam had half the heart to simply throw it out the window but the thought of losing the one thing that Theo had left behind simply made him cry harder.

Damn, he had fallen hard.

Mason simply held his best friend close until he fell asleep again.

*

“Liam, we brought you breakfast.” Liam heard Scott’s voice from the other side of the door. He didn’t even remember falling asleep again after all that crying.

The door opened to reveal Scott and Isaac, each holding something in their hands.

“Mason told us that you woke up the went back to sleep again.” Isaac said as he placed a tray with medical supplies on the nightstand. Scott placed his tray – the one containing actual food – on Liam’s stack of books. “Do you mind if we redressed your wound?”

Liam simply shrugged, not trusting his voice not to crack. He was sure that if he started talking, he would burst into tears again.

“Sit up for me then.” Scott said as he removed the blankets from where they were covering Liam. Liam sat up and let the two do their work, marveling at how in sync the couple was. Watching his friends be like that brought tears to his eyes and he had to fight himself to hold back a sob.

“Scott.” Isaac said before pointing to Liam. Scott looked up and saw Liam tear-streaked face.

“Oh, Liam. Why are you crying?” Scott hugged his second in command. He had only seen the younger male this sad when Hayden had left a goodbye note for him and disappeared. OH. “Is it because of Theo?”

Liam nodded and hid his face on Scott’s shoulder. The sobs shook Scott’s body as he thought about how distressed and heartbroken Liam seemed to be. 

Liam was now full-on crying, not caring about how he looked or sounded. He had spent so long with Theo in the small ship and they had gotten so close to each other and now the older boy was gone. And judging by the way Tracy talked about him, Liam was sure that Theo wasn’t going to come back.

“Do you want to drink some water? It would be good for you?” Scott asked softly. Liam shook his head. He didn’t want to do anything. He had faced heartbreak from Hayden and now with Theo.

It was simply too much for the young man to handle.

“Come on, Liam. Why don’t you have a glass of water or juice – whichever one you want – then you can go back to sleep. I’m sure this crying is making you tired.” Liam heard Isaac’s soft voice say to him. Liam wanted to refuse again, but his head was sore, and he felt like he needed to sleep for a few more years before he was ready to do anything. He nodded his head and heard some shuffling before he felt Scott pull him out of his hiding place and offer him a glass of orange juice.

Liam drank it before hiding himself away again, not wanting to face the world. He felt as if at the last moment, his luck had failed him.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Scott’s gentle voice asked him. Liam nodded again and Scott shifted them so that they were laying down again. He ran his hands through Liam’s hair until the younger boy had fallen asleep.

*

“I’m going to kill him.” Stiles said as he paced the kitchen. “Liam hasn’t left the room since he woke up and if we are counting the weeks that he stayed knocked out, that’s five weeks. He hasn’t left his bed in five weeks!”

“Stiles, we know. You don’t have to remind us.” Scott sighed into his mug of coffee, his second one that day. The group was all sitting at the kitchen table trying to come up with ways to get Liam out of his room. Only Lydia, Scott, Stiles, and Malia were available as everyone else had work or other commitments.

“I really just want to punch him now.” Malia said.

“Well, you have to find him first.” Lydia sighed, before pursing her lips. “I could try.”

“Are you sure? You know that actively using your powers leaves you strained.” Stile said, immediately rushing to his girlfriend’s side.

“I’ll still be in a better position than Liam.” She countered. “He is wasting away in his room, Stiles. And I know you want to find him as much as everyone else in this room does.”

At that moment, the kitchen door opened, and Isaac came in. He looked at everyone in the room before sighing and walking over to where Scott was seated.

“Talking about Liam?” He asked them, before placing a kiss on Scott’s temple.

“Yep, he still isn’t getting better.” Scott said as he offered Isaac his coffee. Isaac waved it off with a shake of his head.

“How’s Mason doing?”

“Still hurt that Liam is hurt. I still can’t believe that they wanted to do that best friend bond thing.” Isaac answered.

“Stiles and I did it.” Scott pointed out.

“Yes, and you are still experiencing pain every single time Stiles stubs his toe. Which happens way too often if I may add.” Isaac shot Stiles a mock glare and the latter smiled.

“Are we going to try Lydia’s plan or not? I kind of have to help Kira at the vault today. Peter wants us to categorize things by alphabet.” Malia asked as she checked her watch.

“What was Lydia’s plan?” Isaac asked.

*

“Are you even sure this is the right load?” Theo asked the man in front of him.

“Yes, we even triple checked it.” The man said.

“Fine, but if I find it even a gram off, I’m going to find you and kill you.” Theo said as he shoved the clipboard against the man’s chest. “Place it on the left next to the other boxes. Don’t touch anything else in my ship.”

“Yes sir.” The man walked away clearly shaken up. Theo sighed. He hadn’t been planning on stopping at the way station, but his supplies had surprisingly not been enough.

“Theo!” A voice that sounded suspiciously like Scott’s, called out. Theo turned in the direction of the voice and received a punch to the face.

“Fuck. Liam makes that seem so easy.” Stiles whined as he cradled the hand he had punched Theo with.

“I would say that I deserve that but I’m not sure that I deserved that.” Theo said as he held his cheek.

“You do deserve that. Liam is broken up about you leaving.” Scott said. Theo felt his heart drop. He knew that Liam wouldn’t take him leaving that well, but he had a feeling that things turned out worse than he had expected. Especially if Stiles and Scott had come all the way to shout at him.

“What’s wrong with Liam?” Theo asked when he managed to clear his thoughts.

“He hasn’t gotten out of bed since he woke up. It’s been more than a month.” Scott told him.

“A month? Are you sure it’s because of me and not his injury? I thought that he would recover nicely.” Theo defended himself. A month was a long time to wallow in heartbreak, especially for Liam.

“Well, his incessant crying hasn’t been because of the pain. There is minimal scarring anyway.” Stiles waved off Theo’s excuses. “He keeps clutching that necklace you left for him and he doesn’t want to eat or drink or talk to anybody. And honestly, I would sort of let this go if it weren’t affecting Mason too.”

“Mason? His best friend?” Theo asked. He remembered somewhere that Liam had told him about the best friend bond he had made with Mason. “I fucked up, didn’t I?”

“I’m glad you realized.” Stiles clapped before he winced and clutched his hand again. “Now go and fix your mistakes before I punch you with my other hand.”

“I can’t.” Theo said, handing his head.

“Why can’t you?” Scott uncrossed his arms.

“I’m on the run. Liam almost died because of me.” Theo told the two of them.

“Liam almost died because you guys escaped from prison and killed a few Ghost Riders.” Scott rolled his eyes.

“And stole a Ghost Rider’s Horse–” Stiles pitched in.

“Stiles, not now.” Scott placed a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “Anyway, all those things that happened weren’t even your fault, so stop mopping and come back because Liam needs you. His heartbreak _is_ your fault.”

“I’m- I-” Theo stammered, not knowing what to say.

“Take your time–” 

“But not too long.” Stiles interjected.

“Stiles.”

“Sorry.” Stiles held up his hands in defense.

“Take your time but remember that Liam might wait for you forever and die doing it.” Scott sighed. He grabbed Stiles before the latter could say anything more and the two of them walked away, leaving Theo to think about what they said.

*

Liam finally decided that he was going to get up out of bed. It wasn’t because he was over Theo or anything. He was leaving the house to go and still in the field and stargaze. Looking at the stars always reminded him of Theo, even when the older boy was right next to him. It reminded him of the night where they had first kissed and shared their stories. Liam knew that if anyone could understand his heartbreak and be able to comfort him, it was the stars – and Mason considering their bond.

He took a quick shower – first one in a week – and headed out of his room and down the stairs. He passed the group who looked at him with shocked expressions and fond smiles as he walked out of the house.

They probably weren’t going to even follow him considering the fact that he was dressed in pajamas and slippers – and that he had finally left the house. Liam headed to the field on the opposite side of the house, looking for somewhere quiet where he could be left alone with his thoughts.

When he arrived, he sat down on the grass and placed a hand on the necklace that was around his neck. He looked up at the sky and all its stars, trying to imagine which star was the one hiding Theo.

It was too late for Liam to say that he didn’t miss the boy. He missed Theo so much that it physically hurt him. He felt as if he couldn’t breathe whenever an image of Theo flashed in his mind. When Hayden had left him, Liam was hurt and angry. Angry that she had chosen her path without wondering if maybe he was willing to join her.

She up and left him with an apology note and promise of penance should they ever meet again. That’s what had made Liam angry. How she thought that she could make it up to him after she had broken his heart.

With Theo it was different. He missed Theo even when they hadn’t been together for long. Technically, they weren’t even dating. That’s why Liam knew that following Theo was not an easy decision. Theo was running from the government, not just the Ghost Riders or something easy like that. It was a life and death situation when one was with him. That was why Liam wasn’t angry that Theo had left like that.

He was hurt because he wasn’t sure if he was ever going to see the older boy ever again. He was scared that Theo would die all alone and nobody would know or be able to help him. He worried that Theo would be scared as he faced many enemies and threats all alone. All because the boy knew a bit too much.

Liam was hurt because he wanted to spend his days with Theo, whether or not they were being hunted down or not. He missed Theo with every fiber of his being, and he wondered if Theo missed him too.

Liam wondered if Theo loved him the way he loved Theo.

These thoughts of doubt were washed away when he placed his hand on the pendant around his neck. Theo had gone back to get it, Liam wasn’t even sure when, but he went back. And that showed Liam that he cared.

Liam was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice the figure approaching him until a blanket was thrown over his face. It was the same blanket from his bed, the one that his mother had gotten for him. Liam was going to thank the person when they sat down next to him and sighed.

“I guess I’m not as smart as I pretend to be.” Theo said. Liam’s breath caught in his throat. He was looking at Theo, not pretend Theo, not imaginary Theo, not even dream Theo.

“Oh my god. You’re back, you’re here.” Liam whispered, his shock evident in his tone. Theo huffed a laugh.

“You’ve been waiting for me for that long huh?” Theo said a sad smile on his face. “I’m sorry about going, Liam. I guess I wanted to protect you, but I just ended up hurting you.”

“You’re back.” Liam repeated. 

“Yes. I’m back.” Theo lightly cupped Liam’s face.

“God, I missed you.” Liam said as he threw himself into Theo’s arms, making them both topple over. This made Theo laugh and soon they were both laughing hysterically as they lay on the grass.

“I missed you too.” Theo said. He let Liam lay on top of him as he ran his hand through the younger boy’s hair.

“I was going to ask the stars if you were okay.” Liam said after a while.

“Really? What do you think they were going to say?” Theo asked.

“They would probably tell me that you were okay, just so that my feelings wouldn’t be hurt, and I would stop worrying.” Liam whispered.

“Fuck, Liam. I’m so sorry about leaving you.”

“I know why you left, Theo. You don’t have to explain.” Liam pushed himself up so that he could look at Theo in the eyes. “I understand and I’m not mad at you.”

Theo could feel tears pooling in his eyes. He had expected to come here to apologize and beg for forgiveness, but not for Liam to take him back with such bright blue eyes. Not for Liam to understand him without him having to say anything.

He sat them both up and placed his hands on either side of Liam’s face, Liam’s legs straddling his own. Just like he had that day at the lake.

“I promise that I will never do that to you ever again.” Theo said before placing a kiss on Liam’s lips.

“Good, because I’ll hold you to that promise.” Liam smiled.

“Come, as nice as it is out here, I’m cold and hungry.” Theo said standing up. He pulled Liam up with him and turned to leave before Liam grabbed his hand. “What’s–”

Liam laid a solid punch against Theo’s face.

“That’s for taking so long to get back.” Liam said as he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders.

“I deserved that.” Theo laughed. Liam hoped Theo was glad that he didn’t break his nose. Just as Theo was straightening up, Liam’s hands grabbed his face and a light kiss was placed on Theo’s lips before he wrapped his arms around the latter.

“So, you don’t run away again.” His muffled voice told Theo.

“Well, I did once tell you that if the Ghost Riders came for you, I would run the other way.” Theo laughed, making Liam laugh with him.

“Then I’ll follow you, for galaxies to come.” Liam looked up at Theo and smiled, his heart filled with happiness.


End file.
